Su Mingyu was completely subdued by the pinching. "I was wrong. Stop pinching. It hurts..."
Hearing the kitten - like murmur of the person in his arms, Gu Ruobai's mood obviously improved a lot. However, the hand on Su Mingyu's waist didn't loosen. "Did you betray 'Mo Wenyuan'?"
What kind of brain did this guy have? How could he react so quickly?
Under the threat of that hand, Su Mingyu didn't dare to quibble. She just nodded. "Yes... But I just wanted Mei Qing to give up. And I knew you'd be okay."
"You knew?" Gu Ruobai clearly didn't believe it. "If you really knew, why did you rush to see me so anxiously?"
Su Mingyu pursed her lips and awkwardly shifted her gaze.
Looking at her blushing cheeks, Gu Ruobai was in a great mood, and even his tone improved. "If you confess honestly, I won't punish you for dining alone with the King of Yu."
Su Mingyu: …
What should she confess? And how many eyes did this man have? How did he know everything?
Su Mingyu lowered her head dejectedly. "Fine, I admit I was worried about you."
"But when I told the King of Yu that it was Mo Wenyuan who framed him, I knew in my heart that you'd be okay. Otherwise, I wouldn't have deliberately redirected the King of Yu's anger towards Mo Wenyuan."
Gu Ruobai didn't doubt this point. Although the King of Yu suddenly led people to raid Mo's courtyard with such a low - level method.
Gu Ruobai was quite surprised at first. But seeing that he only targeted Mo Wenyuan, Gu Ruobai knew that the King of Yu just wanted to vent his anger.
Although he didn't know what exactly he was angry about, since he wanted to vent, why not offer someone for him to do so?
Now, after hearing Su Mingyu's explanation, Gu Ruobai finally understood the reason for the King of Yu's action.
He also knew the reason for Su Mingyu's strange behavior.
Gu Ruobai tightened his arms around Su Mingyu and asked in a low voice, "When did you know that Mei Qing had special feelings for 'Mo Wenyuan'?"
Su Mingyu was stunned. She didn't expect Gu Ruobai to be so straightforward.
She awkwardly touched her nose and lowered her head. "From the beginning."
"From the beginning?" Gu Ruobai thought he hadn't done anything to make Mei Qing misunderstand.
Su Mingyu blinked her eyes. Discussing the woman who liked him in front of Gu Ruobai, for some reason, Su Mingyu felt her mood was a bit complicated.
"Probably when you helped her up. I could clearly feel that her look at you changed after that."
Actually, what Su Mingyu didn't tell Gu Ruobai was that she suspected Mei Qing actually liked Gu Ruobai from the very beginning.
But due to Gu Ruobai being the master and her just being a secret guard, she could only hide her feelings deep in her heart, in a place even she couldn't see.
Until she met Mo Wenyuan, who was very similar to Gu Ruobai.
Mo Wenyuan not only had a similar figure to Gu Ruobai but also a similar aura. Su Mingyu believed that Mei Qing, who had been by Gu Ruobai's side since childhood, must be able to see Gu Ruobai's shadow from Mo Wenyuan's actions more than others.
It was these intangible things that made Mei Qing fall in love with a man whose face she had never seen.
If not, Su Mingyu thought there was no way to explain why Mei Qing, who was not an eighteen - year - old girl in the throes of first love, would fall so deeply just because of such a small thing.
Moreover, she was so deeply infatuated that she was even willing to fall out with Gu Ruobai.
However, Su Mingyu didn't want to tell Gu Ruobai these speculations at all.
She definitely believed that Gu Ruobai could handle Mei Qing well. But anyway, Mei Qing had grown up with him. Su Mingyu believed that although Gu Ruobai didn't say anything, he still regarded Mei Qing and Mu Yi as trustworthy friends in his heart.
So Su Mingyu didn't want to put Gu Ruobai in a difficult position. Since Mei Qing hadn't confessed, let this misunderstanding be buried deep in the ground.
"Since you knew this so early, why didn't you tell me?" Gu Ruobai's eyes darkened. He seemed a bit unhappy.
Su Mingyu wrinkled her nose. "I didn't not tell you. But how could I tell you about these things? If I said too much, I'd seem like a gossiper. If I said too little, I was afraid you wouldn't understand. I was also in a difficult situation."
With just one word "difficult", she shifted all the blame.
Looking at Su Mingyu, who was complaining but still sitting obediently on his lap, Gu Ruobai softened his heart. "Forget it. I won't argue with you about this. But you must remember that if something like this happens again in the future, you must inform me."
He wondered if this girl was tired of hiding so many secrets every day.
Thinking this way, Gu Ruobai unconsciously tightened his hand. Su Mingyu let out a whimper from being choked.
Only then did Gu Ruobai quickly let go.
Sensitively sensing Gu Ruobai's uneasiness, Su Mingyu turned to look at him. "Um, are you really going to transfer both Mu Yi and Mei Qing away?"
"Mei Qing betrayed me." Gu Ruobai's cold eyes hardened. "If you hadn't stopped him, Mu Yi would have already revealed that I'm Mo Wenyuan."
"These two people have been with me since childhood, but now they've become like this. I'm so disappointed in them."
It seemed that this was the first time Su Mingyu had heard the word "disappointed" come out of Gu Ruobai's mouth.
It seemed that what they had done had made Gu Ruobai a bit sad.
Su Mingyu reached out and hugged Gu Ruobai's head, then gently stroked his smooth black hair. "Mu Yi is a loyal and affectionate person. I believe that even if I hadn't spoken up, he would have stopped in time."
"And Mei Qing was just blinded by love for a moment. She may not really want to betray you."
Su Mingyu wasn't really good at comforting people. But listening to Su Mingyu's strong heartbeat, Gu Ruobai didn't feel so unhappy anymore.
He hugged Su Mingyu even tighter and still insisted, "But the punishment is still necessary."
Su Mingyu was scared of being pinched. She quickly nodded in agreement. "Of course. After all, they've made such a big mistake."
The autumn wind blew. The two sat in the pavilion, hugging each other. It was extremely quiet, and the atmosphere was very beautiful, making people reluctant to disturb them.
Originally, Su Mingyu thought that Gu Ruobai's punishment would just be the usual physical punishment, like getting a few strokes of the cane or having some silver deducted.
But when Su Mingyu went to find Gu Ruobai the next day, she saw Mu Yi, who had been tortured beyond recognition.
The lacerated and bleeding appearance looked terrifying.
Since Mu Yi was in such a miserable state, Su Mingyu couldn't help but worry about Mei Qing.
Just then, Mei Qing was carried out of a dilapidated room.
There were wounds all over her body, and the wound on her knee was almost deep enough to expose the bone.
But the only thing that made Su Mingyu secretly relieved was that Gu Ruobai hadn't hurt Mei Qing's face.